Waste Conundrums : Case Study 1

Sevenoaks District Council is the Waste Collection Authority for the Borough of Sevenoaks. It operates a Direct Service Organisation for kerbside collection of household waste, delviering collected recyclables to a Waste Transfer Station/ MRF operated by the County Council's contractor. The county council contract included stringent penalty clauses around contamination of recyclables delivered, with options to either reject complete loads or impose an additional fee/ fine.

When Sevenoaks District Council was struggling to understand why there was such a high level of contamination of recyclables being reported by the receiving contractor facing penalty charges, they turned to Beyond Waste to help. By fielding a worker to shadow the collection crews, observing their behaviour and monitoring what was being set out, we were able to identify the root cause of the problems, report back and make simple and workable recommendations.

What our client said…

“The report …accomplished just what we thought it would and gives us insight into factors that we were not aware of. It has also allowed us to get a little bit 'closer' to the crews. So all in all a very good piece of work for which we are very grateful… your work is excellent“